Faruque Ahmed
The country’s politics is entering into the final phase with the government and the opposition holding a diametrically opposed stance over holding of the next Parliamentary election.
The ruling party is treating the next pools as the final phase of the ‘unfinished liberation war’ which means they want to eliminate the Islamists from the country’s politics by holding a unilateral election and in particular destroying Jamaat as a political party.
On the other hand, BNP and its 18-party allies see the return of one party rule of BAKSAL inevery political move and the election strategy of the ruling party and they hold the view that it is the last chance to salvage democracy from falling into a big plunge.
Thus the two camps are entrenched to brace a bitter bloody election war sending panic signals to people all over the country. The fear of violence is at all levels.
The elevation of prison sentence of Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Mollah to death sentence by Supreme Court may now add new dimension to the crisis as analysts fear. Jamat enforced two days hartal from Wednesday last to protest what they said the political handling of the case. The ICT may also hand over verdict in BNP leader Salahuddin Chowdhury’s case any time now and there is every possibility of a harsh verdict to press a bloody confrontation in the forthcoming electioneering months.
Foundation laying galore
In fact, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has already opened a whirlwind electioneering campaign leaving the basic election issues unresolved. She is running from one corner of the country to another laying the foundation stones of new development projects. But the opposition 18-party allies have already decried her campaign saying she is using the state power and resources denying a level playing field to the opposition. They said this is exactly the case why they are opposed to taking part in the elections without a caretaker government.
Sheikh Hasina however said she would not restore the caretaker system. She would hold the polls in the light of the 15th amendment to the Constitution which authorises her to continue as head of an ‘interim government’ and hold the election any time within 90 days of the expiry of the present Parliament scheduled for January 24, next. Nobody will be able to stop the polls, she said.
Her comment came in response to BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia’s comment at a Rangpur public rally last week that she is campaigning for vote but to boycott the polls. Begum Zia said the opposition would force the government to give election under a caretaker government after October 24 when the present Parliament is scheduled to cease functioning.
Thus the two camps are sharply divided which may take the nation towards a state of bloody confrontation and volatility. But it appears that the ruling party is now having a new definition of democracy in Bangladesh which essentially excludes Jamaat and BNP-led 18-party alliance.
‘Democracy not for all’
Surenjit Sengupta of ‘blak cat’ fame told the House last week that democracy in Bangladesh must be read with August 15 killing of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and August 21,2004 killing of Awami League leaders and workers at Bangabandhu Avenue. It must be read with the spirit of liberation war. It is not for all. It excludes the Islamists and even BNP which now supports the Islamist camp.
Sajib Wajed Joy made it further clear last week saying the next polls need to be treated as the end phase of the revolution. The opposition now tends to fear the return of the BAKSAL type one party regime in Bangladesh. Justifying their claim they said the closure of the opposition newspaper and TV channels are enough to reaffirm the fears.
In all intents, the nation is at the cross-roads becoming divided not because of their own faults but because of selfish faulty politics of the political parties and the ruling party in particular. The government is pressing the unilateral election in this situation to return the Awami League led coalition to power again, no matter what.
The Prime Minister is now showing the sign of an autocratic leader to win the next polls. She is announcing new Pay Commission to buy loyalty of the bureaucracy. She has awarded a new pay scale to journalists which only few news papers may be able to implement. The government is giving massive promotions to police and other segments of administration including mass promotion to physicians and teachers from primary to secondary schools and colleges.
Breaking all rules
She is also nationalizing primary schools breaking all standard rules. Only recently the government has promoted 72 deputy secretary to the post of Joint secretaries to make it overcrowded by over a thousand officers having no place for posting. In the bureaucracy there are more joint secretaries now than Assistant Secretaries.
The government is now recruiting 1500 primary school teachers in haste ignoring the standard recruitment rules. It is going to recruit 5000 physicians against the backdrop of similar recruitment of 5000 physicians in the recent past.
The position of police inspectors has been elevated to class 1 now and sub-inspectors to class-2. Inspector General of Police (IGP) and three Deputy Inspectors General of Police (DIGs) have been promoted to the post of senior secretary and secretary respectively. Critics say these are election time distribution of favours to buy allegiance of various service cadres to the government.
The government action, critics say, is thus not only breaking service discipline, it is also making things tough for any future government to restore orderly functioning of the state organs when deprived officials will come up with their own claims. Politics is thus destroying the very foundation of the state while the issue is just how to bring the incumbent government back to power.
Source: Weekly Holiday